


The Saddest Song

by lovelyharringrove



Series: Good [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Abuse, Biblical References, Child Abuse, Hearing Voices, Hurt/Comfort, Religious Imagery & Symbolism, Schizophrenia, billys catholic guilt fest part 2, pre relationship btw, susan and max are good, then more hurt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-13
Updated: 2019-05-13
Packaged: 2020-03-02 20:34:43
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 914
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18818518
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/lovelyharringrove/pseuds/lovelyharringrove
Summary: Billy wakes up. Song fic (ish) for The Saddest Song by Morphine, part 2 of the Good series.





	The Saddest Song

**Author's Note:**

> EDIT: i forgot in the first part of this series i said billy was expelled, so if you read this before wednesday may 15, you mightve been confused. but i fixed it now! no changes to the plot, just a fews words changed (i.e., schools->school, neither of you->you)
> 
> lyrics to the saddest song:
> 
> On my first day back my first day back in town  
> my first day my first day back in town  
> the clouds up above they were humming our song  
> humming humming our song  
> my biggest fear is if i let you go  
> you'll come and get me in my sleep  
> my biggest fear is if i let you go  
> you'll come and get me in my sleep  
> come and get me  
> i set my course sailed away from shore  
> steady steady as she goes  
> i crash in the night two worlds collide  
> but when two worlds collide no one survives no one survives and  
> the reddest of reds the bluest of blues  
> the saddest of songs i'll sing for you and  
> my biggest fear is if i let you go  
> you'll come and get me in my sleep  
> my biggest fear is if i let you go  
> you'll come and get me in my sleep  
> come and get me come and get me in my sleep(x2)

Billy cracked open his eyes, the yellow light of the sunrise peeking in trough the open window and brushing aside the curtains.

 

He could almost pretend, now, that he was back in the rocky cove. Could pretend that he could smell salt in the air, could pretend he could hear the waves crashing gently against the shore.

 

There was a bakery, that his mother worked at. He would sit on the back deck over the canyon and draw. It always smelled like butter and cigarettes.

 

He could almost pretend.

 

He remembered crying, running down the spindly, wooden steps and collapsing into the sand. The tide was low, barely washing against him.

 

He could almost pretend. Almost.

 

Then Susan woke up, humming a song as she padded out of her bedroom in her slippers. Inhaling a sharp little gasp when she saw Billy, bloody and bruised, standing at the window.

 

She was shocked. Not that he was hurt, that he was standing.

 

She walked to the kitchen counter, turning the creaky faucet and filling the kettle.

 

“Billy?”

 

He turned to her, eyes hollow and red-rimmed.

 

“Come sit at the table. He won’t be awake soon, I got up early.”

 

And Billy did.

 

Let her hum as she poured two cups of tea, as she poured the rest into a bowl and dipped a rag in it to clean him with.

 

Let her sigh as the ran her hands through his hair, as she peeled the paper off the butterfly bandages.

 

And he could almost pretend, now, that she was his mother, if he closed his eyes halfway and looked out the window at the orange sky.

 

Could almost cry, when she ran her soft fingers along his face, careful to miss the gash on his cheek.

 

She turned the burner on, singing the Sonics under her breath. Cracked an egg into the pan and Billy watched it sizzle, burn.

 

Just like him.

 

And when she handed it to him, and took his tea away, long gone cold, he could almost pretend.

 

He could almost pretend that his mother wasn’t screaming at him from the corner.

 

\---

 

Max woke up, stumbling out of her room, bathed in blue. She rubbed her eye, started a sentence, then stopped.

 

Susan offered her some toast. Billy watched. 

 

Susan nudged Billy into his room, telling him to get ready to take Max school and leave early. Before Neil.

 

Max didn't argue, for once. She knew he got like this sometimes - brooding and dark, twitchy - but knowing has never halted shock. 

 

She slung her backpack into the backseat, her skateboard going in after.  _Just in case._

 

Billy joined her, after a little bit. He let her turn on the radio, let her play the soft and crooning music she loved. Let her place her hand on the center console. Let himself put his on top, shaking.

 

And she didn't hesitate when he turned onto the highway instead of the way to school. Let him drive her up to Lafayette, where they stopped and he bought her a soda. Let him drive her all the way up to Chicago in silence. Let him hold her by the back of the neck as he led her from the parking lot to a shitty dive. 

 

Billy didn't get ID'd much, not even in Cali. He had the look, as Max called it, the look that her Dad had had as he stood outside their house in Sacramento and watched Susan drive them away. 

 

The look that meant they were resigned to their fates, that they knew they could stop things but couldn't quite bring themselves too. 

 

"It's bad again," he muttered quietly. Put down his beer to pick at his fingers, ripping off scabs and bits of skin. She brought her hand over his, making him flinch back and stare at her like he hadn't known she was there. 

 

"When I say to the wicked, 'You will surely die,' and you do not warn him or speak out to warn the wicked from his wicked way that he may live, that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand."

 

Max looked at him, an bit her lip. "What does that mean?"

 

Billy looked up at her, meeting her eyes for the first time that day. "Means I'm gonna die - probably 'cause of him - and there's nothing I can do to stop it."

 

\---

 

They left the dive soon, slipping back into the Camaro. Max hesitantly reached for the radio, and Billy didn't stop her.

 

The ride back was silent too, filled with dead trees and grey rain.

 

When they got home, Neil was sitting on the front stoop, smoking and fuming.

 

Max got out of the car at the same time as Billy, walking a step behind him. 

 

"Maxine. I got a call from your school today. You failed to show up."

 

Max stepped in front of Billy, meeting Neil's gaze. "I know, Neil. I'm sorry, it won't happen again."

 

He smiled.

 

"You're right, it won't. Maxine, go to your room."

 

She looked back at Billy, who nodded at her. Then, for all her false bravery, she ran into her bedroom and locked the door.

 

And tried to block out the grunts, the screaming. Tried to ignore the sound of a belt cutting through the air. Tried to ignore the low, small sounds Billy made as he laid in the hallway, long after Neil had gone to sleep. 


End file.
